Leap
by ScarletttheLazyWriter
Summary: Roscoe hasn't seen his human friend in five years. Has she forgotten her old town? Or has she found a new adventure? How many miles is the cranky villager willing to walk to be a part of that adventure? We shall see. Content rating subject to change. This fic will contain no shipping.
1. Chapter 1

**The "science" in this fic is softer than melted syrup. This is why I can't science. How do I science?**

**How do I ****English?**

* * *

Roscoe rummaged through his closet, trying to find his shovel. He cursed himself for not being as tidy as some of the other villagers, some of which seemed to think of nothing _but _cleaning. He supposed having that trait would be useful right now, when he needed to clear his mind particularly badly. Being able to lose himself in the act of cleaning for hours on end, perhaps even for the whole day, would help him forget that today marked the fifth anniversary of his best friend's mysterious departure. His hooves did most of the searching, whilst his mind chose to linger on that thought. _Five years. Has it been that long already? _Most of his closet contained gifts given to him by her, which made it all the more difficult to forget that his life was now missing something precious. On a normal basis, the thought didn't bother him. Though he felt a bit guilty to admit it to himself, he had reached a point where he barely ever thought about her and, at times, even forgot that she ever existed at all. Today, however, was not one of those days.

"Found you." He muttered to his shovel. Now that she was no longer around, the fossils in the ground went undiscovered, leaving him with something to do. He had always adored fossils. She had always been willing to give hers to him, even sending them in her letters. He sighed. _It's only for today. Tomorrow will be any other day. You can ignore her memory tomorrow. _He stepped outside into the bright morning sunlight, feeling Spring's warmth on his short fur. They had both agreed that Spring was their favorite season, though he didn't mention it as much as she did. She loved to write about Spring. She would ramble on and on about it in her letters. About how it was a season for new beginnings. He sighed. How ironic that, for him, Spring had become a season of endings. An ending to his friendship with her, an ending to closeness, and an ending to the town's beauty, since everyone was too lazy to just pull the weeds themselves. Or, perhaps, they were just holding out the hope that their human friend would return someday and that she would want something to do once she got back. He dug his shovel into the earth, pulling up a fossil. _Maybe it's time I just went ahead and pulled them up myself._

* * *

"Lucy."

"Hmm?"

"Can I play your old Wild World file?"

Lucy's mouth twisted upwards and her eyes went wide. "You actually dug that thing up? I haven't played that in years."

"So, is that a 'yes'?"

"Uh, yeah. Sure. What, was Mom too cheap to buy you New Leaf?"

There was a short pause on the other end of the line.

"No. I just. . .well, it was yours, you know? It's kinda like a part of you is in the game." Another pause. "I miss you."

"I miss you, too." Lucy let out a puff of air. "Sometimes I wanna visit. Adulthood isn't always fun, you know?"

"You're hardly an adult."

"I'm enough of one, thank you. Anyway, you can have it. You can erase my file if you like."

"Nah. I'll just make a new one. Thanks, Lucy."

"No prob."

"Love you."

"Love you, too."

"Bye."

"'Kay, bye."

_click._

* * *

A cab pulled into the town. The same cab that had brought with it his friend all those years ago. Roscoe watched as a young boy stepped out of it, and he felt a wave of nostalgia sweep over him. The boy had the same eyes as she had. Same shape. Same shade of blue. His cheeks even had that same rosy color that hers had. It was almost like seeing her all over again, despite the gender difference. The boy didn't bother to talk to him, instead choosing to walk straight to Nookway, presumably to seek employment. He remembered the days when Lucy had been Tom's employee, back when the shop was still known as Nook's Cranny. He had been upset with her for delivering his package late, though looking back now, she hadn't really taken that long. The boy came out of the store, wearing the same uniform she had. He felt a knot in his throat. It was bad enough that this new, nearly identical face was already reminding him of her, but today of all days? It was becoming a bit too much for him to take. He needed to clear his head. Needed to stop thinking about the past, at least for a few minutes. He needed coffee.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"Here you go."

"Thanks, Brewster." He took a sip, letting the dark liquid burn his tongue and the inside of his mouth. The warmth of the drink spread throughout his entire body, filling every cell with energy. He watched as the quiet barista cleaned the inside of a small china cup. He seemed so content, as if he needed nothing more than to serve coffee to his patron_s _and didn't have any other cares, unlike Roscoe. _Maybe he doesn't notice that she's gone_. _Huh. Then again, maybe he's just taking her absence better than me._

"Do you ever miss her?" The questioned seemed odd to say out loud, with no previous lead in to it, but Roscoe had asked it regardless. The coffee pigeon didn't seemed fazed.

"Who?"

"Who do you think?"

". . .I suppose I do sometimes. . .we had gotten semi-close. . ."

"I figured. You don't serve sugar to everyone."

"How did you know about that?"

Roscoe smiled, feeling silly for remembering such a trivial detail. "She told me about it in one of her letters. She would do that. Tell me about her day, no matter how insignificant it was. She was so happy that you'd finally offered."

The pigeon said nothing.

"I miss her." he looked into his half-empty cup, his harsh, red eyes reflecting back at him faintly. "I wonder. . .did I drive her away? I know I can be a bit coarse sometimes."

". . .True."

"Well, you didn't have to agree with me!" The whites of his eyes went yellow for a moment, as they did when he became frustrated, but soon returned to their normal state. "Sorry. I'm just upset is all. We were closer than anyone else in this town. At least, I thought we were. I thought that I had stopped being so, well, _grumpy _towards her. I thought that was supposed to make things better." He took a large gulp, ignoring the burning in his throat. "Guess I thought wrong."

"Some things. . .can't be helped." Brewster's expression was hard to read, but something seemed a bit. . .different in his tone. It was hard to discern. Someone who hadn't known him for years probably wouldn't be able to hear it. For someone else, the miniscule difference would be nothing more than a simple pitch difference. This, however, was the stoic Brewster. That small difference spoke loud and clear to Roscoe—Brewster knew something.

"What does that mean?" Roscoe's curiosity was peaked. He didn't know why. Whatever it was, it was probably inconsequential.

". . ."

"Hey, are you listening?"

"Yes."

"Then answer me, would you?"

". . .I'm not supposed to say."

Roscoe raised an eyebrow at the pigeon. Now he wanted to know all the more what it was, whatever it was. "Come on, you can tell me! Is it a secret? Oh. . .you're afraid I'll start a rumor, aren't you?" He felt a twinge of guilt. _I knew it. I knew that gossiping habit would come back to bite me someday. _

"No. . .forget I said anything."

"Come on! You're not the type to keep secrets! Are you?"

". . ."

"Brewster, please." The horse wasn't used to begging. He hated it. "Come on. I'm already having a cruddy day. You know why. Can you cut me some slack and just tell me? I don't care what it is. I just wanna know! It's gonna bug me all day. Come on, man. I promise that, whatever it is, it won't leave this coffee shop."

". . ."

"Brewster!"

". . .You wouldn't be able to handle it."

That caught him off guard. He was used to being called "grandpa" or "awful" or the like, but being told he couldn't handle something? Being called _weak_? "I can handle whatever you throw at me."

A silence hung in the air, save for the gentle music that played softy around them. Brewster's glasses obscured his eyes, but Roscoe could tell that the pigeon was debating on whether or not to tell him. The words he spoke next were far heavier than Roscoe could have ever imagined. Once spoken, they would undo his entire perception of himself and the world around him. Three little words would alter his entire existence, perhaps forever.

". . .You're not real."


	2. Chapter 2

"What?"

"Just what I said. . .you're not real."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Brewster stopped cleaning the china cup and looked up, his bespectacled eyes no doubt staring into Roscoe's soul. "Have you ever wondered. . .why she was the only human here? Ever wondered. . .why no one wants to pull the weeds? Or fish for themselves? Or catch their own bugs?" No. Roscoe had never thought of that. To him, it was just a normal, everyday sort of lifestyle. He asked her for something and, more often than not, she came through for him. Was that really so strange? Brewster continued. "It's because we exist to give her something to do." He adjusted his glasses, giving his words time to settle in before piling on more. "To her. . .and others like her. . .our life is a game. That game. . .has gotten an upgrade."

Roscoe shook his head, not sure what to make of Brewster's words. Had the old pigeon gone mad? Yes. Yes, that must be it. Still, he decided to play along. "Oh? Why haven't I been given this information? How come I haven't heard of this?"

"The villagers. . .aren't supposed to know. It doesn't matter for you."

"And it matters for you?"

". . .well. . .I suppose not. . .but some of us are aware of this. Tom Nook knows. That seagull that thinks he's an astronaut knows. I only know because Nook told me. . .I guess he slipped up. . .must've been thinking about something that day. . ." He paused. "It's a shame. . .the Tom that lives here. . .doesn't know about his future. . .how good it becomes. . ."

"What are you talking about?" _Can he be serious?_

"I'm talking about a new leaf."

"New leaf?"

"Yes. Those that made this world. . .made another. And then another. That new world is probably where your friend went."

"How do you know what happens if Tom doesn't?" _Why do I care? He's probably just telling a story. This can't be real._

"Because. . .I've seen it." For the first time since Roscoe had known him, Brewster removed his glasses. His eyes were serious, yet filled with wonder. "I've _leapt_." That word held a greater weight than the others. It lingered in the air.

"Leapt?"

Brewster put his glasses back on and stepped next to the shelf behind him. He grabbed it with both wings and pulled it to the side, revealing the wall behind it. He placed one of his wings to it, causing it to flicker. Roscoe's eyes went wide and his mouth opened in awe.

"Our bodies. . .are made of code. This area of the wall's code is weaker. . .some might call it a 'glitch'. I call it a fairy circle."

"Fairy circle?"

"A gateway. . .to other worlds. I went to one of them and regretted it."

"What was it like?" Roscoe's words sounded monotone. He hadn't yet gotten over the shock that Brewster wasn't insane. That his words were true.

"Cats. . .cats everywhere. Pictures of cats. . .videos of cats. . .drawings of cats. . .and that was just the sane area. I didn't want to go back. . ."

"But you did."

"I did. I was curious. . .like you. It was a few months ago. . .and I learned about our future. About the new world." Brewster's unemotional expression couldn't hide his wonder at whatever memories were swimming in his head. "Coo. . .it's a bright future. Very bright. . .and beautiful. The Able Sisters. . .the Nooks. . .the town. . .everything is just. . .so beautiful. There are so many holidays. So much has happened. . .I don't blame her for going there."

"She's there? You saw her?" Roscoe's excitement was mounting, threatening to overwhelm him.

"Coo, not her specifically, but others like her. They love the new world. Some seem to love it more than their real lives."

"Real lives?"

"An unfortunate thing those of her race have to deal with. . .it takes them away from this world. . .from that world. Still. . .there is no doubt in my mind that she is there. . .somewhere."

Roscoe could feel his entire body shaking, a new energy pumping through his veins at the revelation. _She's there. In that new world. If Brewster can leap, why can't I?_

"I want to go there."

Brewster lowered his head. "Coo. . .I wouldn't recommend it. Our bodies weren't meant to leave this world. . .which is why I've only done it twice. It sapped my energy. . .I thought I was going to die. There's a chance. . .you wouldn't be able to return."

"What do I have to return to?" He felt laughter bubbling into his voice, a sort of giddy euphoria. "After all, you said we exist for them. That our life is a game to them. I want to be her playmate."

"You're taking this awfully well. . ."

"I can see my best friend again! Why wouldn't I?"

". . .I hope you never find out." Brewster let out a soft sigh, almost a normal breath. "You're not going to forget this, are you?"

"Nope. I'm going. I don't care what the risk is." He tried to lighten Brewster's mood. "Besides, the punks in this town are so annoying. Cleaning this and flowers that. Ha ha! Why would I want to stay?"

". . .I guess. . ." Brewster stepped aside, indicating that he wouldn't stop Roscoe if he chose to go through the gateway. "I wish you the best. . .say 'hi' to Lucy for me. . ."

"You got it." He jumped over the counter and placed a hoof onto the wall. It flickered again, and he felt it give way. Rushes of electricity shot through him, intense and painful. _Why did you go through this the first time?! Who in their right mind would _do _that?! _He gritted his teeth and placed another hoof through the wall.

* * *

"Come on, Colter. Just open your gate." John, Lucy's brother, said into his computer's mic.

"Can't we play the new one? I haven't played Wild World in forever."

"You're the only friend I've got who still plays this one! Come on. Nintendo's gonna switch off the wifi capability soon. Please? For old time's sake?"

"Fine. Just gimmi a minute. My signal's not very good right now."

"New modem?"

"Yeah. Dumb if you ask me. Gate's open."

"I see it. I'm coming over right now."

"Seriously, dude. You should get the new game. I got it from the e-shop. Didn't even have to go to the store. i hear it's the best one so far."

"I like the classics."

"Hipster."

"Shut up. . .hey, what's taking so long?"

"I told you, signal's not very good."

"I didn't think it would be _this _bad. . .yep, there it goes."

"Crud! This has been happening all freaking day, dude. Wifi keeps going out."

"S'all good. Wanna try again?"

"If we have to. I'd rather play New Leaf, though. I haven't gotten the chance to play it since I got it."

"Fine. I'll play alone and you can play that. Wanna try again later?"

"Sure. Cya, man."

"Cya. Have fun."

* * *

Roscoe blinked. "No!" He had made it through the gateway. Ones, zeros, and electrical pulses swirled around him like some sort of digital aurora. A path had appeared in front of him, shaky and unstable. He had assumed that it would lead him into this new world and had begun to cross it; however, before he could make it to the other side, the path collapsed, leaving him suspended in the strange expanse. The gateway was nowhere in sight. He wouldn't know where to begin looking for it, anyway, for it had no distinct appearance. _I'm stuck here. I'm never going home. I'll never see her again, either. _He felt himself beginning to panic and tried to calm himself. _I am an adult. A mature, fully grown adult. I will not panic. I will not panic. I will not. . ._

"Help! Brewster! Help!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, hoping that sound actually carried here. _Come on! Brewster found his way back. _Twice. _If he can do it, I can do it better! _He placed one hoof in front of the other. He went back in the direction he came from, slowly, nervously. He didn't get far before another gateway opened up behind him. It was different from the gateway he had come through. He turned to see it and had to squint. Light poured out of it, white and nearly blinding. It had a shape—square. Square with rounded edges. He tried to see what lay on the other side, but something inside him told him that it was probably not a good idea to linger for very long. The path hadn't even lasted a minute. How long would this gateway last? He didn't want to find out. He closed his eyes and leapt through it, hoping that whatever awaited him would be pleasant.


	3. Chapter 3

**Apologies in advance to anyone with a town named "Buttz", or something of the like.**

* * *

He landed on his face. Brewster had said that leaping had sapped him of energy, and Roscoe could feel that much of his had gone. He felt lighter, as if a part of him had dissolved away. He couldn't move. It was hard to breathe. He didn't know what "death" felt like, or even what it was, so he assumed this was what Brewster had felt. The feeling, thankfully, soon passed. He felt energy returning to him, as if the world itself were refilling him, replacing whatever it was that was lost. _Well, he didn't say the feeling lasted long. _He blinked, his vision refocusing.

When he looked up, he saw that he was lying on the floor of a train. He heard the sound of someone asking questions and turned his head to his left to see where the voice was coming from. He saw two forms sitting across from one another—one, the one asking the questions, was a blue cat with red eyes and a wide, friendly smile. Too friendly. The other was quite unsettling—it was a human form, like that of his friend; however, when Roscoe scooted across the floor to get a better look, he saw that the creature had no features on its face. As the conversation continued, its face changed with each of the cat's questions, morphing into a final image of a boy with almond-shaped, greenish eyes and mahogany brown hair. Roscoe shuddered. _They are weirder than I thought. _Another voice, a voice that reminded him vaguely of a monkey that had once lived in his old town, announced the name of the location where the train was going.

"Now arriving in Buttz! Buttz Station!"

Roscoe's jaw dropped. _W. . .what?! Who _named _this town?! Who in their right mind would—_

"Oh, hey! Looks like we're about to arrive in Buttz. Thanks for chatting with me!" The cat continued to speak, saying his farewells to the human. A flash of white light surrounded them, and when Roscoe's vision returned, the human stepped off the train. The cat slumped into his seat and let out what sounded like an annoyed groan.

"I swear, if I have to sit through _one _more town being named something involving butts, I'm going to scream." The cat rubbed his eyes and slung his head back against the seat, grunting. He must've caught sight of Roscoe on the floor, because his huge smile returned. "Tough job sometimes, eh? Gets kind of frustrating. Must be awful for you, with that threat hanging over your head every time you move. At least you don't get the immense "pleasure" of starting them off." The cat shrugged. "Oh, well. I guess it's better than listening to that old Kappa ramble on the bus. I guess this time around isn't _so _bad. Still, why can't they just pick a map and give their town a dignified name? I mean, really. Is it so much to a—" The cat stopped his rant once he noticed the confused look on Roscoe's face. "You okay?"

"Who are you?"

The cat laughed. "Did your memory get a bit too corrupted this time around? I'm Rover. Nice to meet you again, Roscoe." The cat patted the seat next to him. Roscoe was too surprised to move.

"Hey, buddy, how the heck do you know my name? I've never seen you before in my life, ya freak!" The cat—Rover—was taken aback by Roscoe's comment.

"What gives? You aren't supposed to forget this much. . ." Rover looked puzzled. He shook his head, choosing to dismiss the matter. "Ah, oh well. We might as well try to get along. We may be here for awhile." At that, Roscoe noticed for the first time that the train hadn't moved since the human got off.

"Doesn't this thing got better things to do than just sit here?"

"Man, you really _did _get messed up!" Whether or not it was appropriate to do so, the cat laughed as if it were something funny. "Streetpass, man. We're stuck here until the guy passes someone else with the DS in sleep mode. That's your ticket to another town. Unless, of course, you actually _want _to move to a town called 'Buttz.' I don't think anyone would want to do that willingly."

"Street. . .pass. . .?" _What the heck is a "DS"?_

"With any luck, he's not some stay-at-home hermit. Then again, so long as _someone _adds him, your chances of getting out quicker are good. Sure would've been easier if you had come from this town. It wouldn't be so difficult then. I mean, you _could_ live here for a little while if you're not in a hurry to move. You wouldn't have to wait so long for him to pass or add someone. I guess _that _would be reason enough to move here. It would take longer, but at least you wouldn't be bored." Rover paused. "Where exactly _are _you from?"

"Uh. . ." The cat's words baffled him. He didn't understand half of it. Would he even know about his old village? Probably not. "It would be hard to explain, 'specially to a weirdo like you."

"Well, no need to be rude! You could at least make an effort to explain."

He was a freak. A weird freak. A weird freak who talked too much. Annoying. Still, he was the first being that Roscoe had met in this new world, so he might be able to explain to him what it was all about if Roscoe explained where he came from. He described, in vivid detail, the town full of annoying animals he had come from. How they were all immature children who wasted their time doing stupid things. How Moppina was, or maybe wasn't, some sort of sentient mop that a small bear had told him about. He told him every single insignificant detail, and, naturally, details that weren't so insignificant, like how he had once had a best friend named Lucy who disappeared five years ago. Finally, he told him about how he came to this world. Once he stopped talking, the cat looked at him in amazement and disbelief. _How did he actually manage to make his face even _creepier_?! Stop looking surprised. You're freakin' me out!_

"I. . .wow. I didn't know that such a thing was even possible! I've never heard of old data transferring itself into a new issue. Well, outside of Wild World to City Folk, but that was actually planned. That was supposed to happen. You managed to skip an entire issue without a programmer's consent. I never imagined such a bug could exist!"

"Well, it does. And I used it." He struck a pose in his seat, feeling a bit smug.

"And you're totally okay with, you know, being fake?"

"Brewster said something about that. I don't see what the big deal is."

"You have no idea what 'code' or 'data' is, do you?"

"Sure don't! And I don't care."

The cat's face took on the same worried expression that Brewster's had, albeit more easy to see. It was soon replaced with a smile. "W-well, I'm sure you'll love this place! I certainly do. I wish you nothing but happiness."

"Thanks." They felt the train lurch forward. How long had they been talking?

"Looks like we're in luck! Guess the guy has a busy schedule or something. Not that it matters for you. You won't be living with him. Thank goodness. I'd _hate _to move to a new town and say I came from Buttz."

"Who will I be living with?"

Rover shrugged, but his eyes held a spark of wonder. "Whoever you want to live with. This issue sold well. Your options are limitless."

"Huh?"

"Go wherever you want to go. Because you can."

_There is only one place I want to go. _"I will."


	4. Chapter 4

**To that one guest reviewer named Set: yeah. I read they're shutting it off for the DS and the Wii. Hopefully that's just a wiki error thing or something, 'cause that's a pretty cheap move to get people to migrate to the 3DS.**

**I bought a book called _How Not to Write a Novel, _and I've already noticed some mistakes with this fic, soooo. . .new drinking game! Every time Scarlettthelazywriter drops the ball, take a drink! **

***inhale***

**Ofsomethingnonalcoholicunlessyoursystemcanhandleitpleasedrinkresponsiblythisdisclaimerisn't**

**reallynecessaryyoupeoplearesmarterthanthatI'mgonnapassoutonthefloorfromlackofoxygennow **

***exhale* unnecessary (and lengthy) author's note. There's your first freebie. **

* * *

_Come on, you stupid golden stag! Stop flying away, you little—_

Sadie heard a knock at the door. Her boyfriend Colter had said that he would be coming over to hang out and play New Leaf, so she happily put her DS into sleep mode and forgot about that annoying beetle (mostly) as she went to get the door, taking the system with her in the hopes of a new Streetpass item.

* * *

"We've stopped." Roscoe said.

"Oh, good." Rover said. "Looks like he's streetpassed someone. So long for now. Good luck finding your friend."

"Yeah. Thanks." Roscoe said. He hopped from the seat and walked towards the door. _Maybe this is her town. Maybe I won't have to waste my time looking for her. _He stepped off the train, then sighed. _Most likely not. _He stepped into the moonlit town and was greeted with trees blooming with the colors of Spring. The pavement around the train station was decorated with golden roses, which sparkled with water droplets. He took a few steps. The grass was nearly-perfect. He didn't see a single weed anywhere. _Nice. _He thought, taking in the scenery and fresh, clean air. A few houses were scattered here and there, most of which sat silent and unlit, but a few alive with lights and music, their chimneys puffing out smoke happily. He sat on a stump and stared out in front of him at nothing in particular. _What now? _He tried to remember what Lucy's house had looked like. _Red roof. Stone walls. Huge. _He walked through the town, trying to find a house that might resemble that.

The biggest house he could find was a gingerbread castle surrounded by Jacob's ladders. Lucy hated gingerbread, so it couldn't have been hers. _Maybe she acquired a taste for it. It _could _be her house. _He turned away from the house and went in a different direction. He walked along the cliff-side over looking the beach, hearing the waves lap against the sand. _And maybe I'm turning into an overly-optimistic sap._

"Hey! Who are you?"

Roscoe whipped his head over his shoulder in surprise. A small female squirrel clad in blue looked up at him, smiling a buck-toothed smile. "I've, like, never seen you before! I know everyone here, but I don't know you. Are you new here? That is, like, soooo cool! You're kinda scary, though, sidekick. My name's Agent S. What's yours?"

_No. you've gotta be kiddin' me. Not another one of _these. "It's none of your business." _Wait. Did she say _"everyone"_? _"Um. Actually, I'm kinda busy looking for someone. Does the name 'Lucy' sound familiar?"

"Lucy. . .Lucy. . ." Agent S placed a paw to her face and concentrated, then her head snapped up, her eyes wide with realization. "Oh! You mean Lucy from Sparkletown? Yeah, I remember her! She's friends with Mayor Sadie. She seems like a real world traveler to me."

_Sparkletown. _His town had been named that. The odds of two towns with such a horribly tacky name were astronomical. Another Lucy in another Sparkletown was unimaginable. It had to be her. _Maybe she moved there because it reminded her of home._ The thought made him smile."I need to go there."

"Well, you could, like, get a house here, sidekick. People move here from there and there from here _all _the time!" said Agent S, whistling happily.

"Why can't I just move there right now?" Roscoe said.

"Well, like, you could try, but you might not be able to. For some reason, only ten animals can live in a town at a time. I don't get it." She shrugged.

"Worth a try. Thanks for your help." He turned to walk away.

"How are you gonna do that? Villagers only move there when she comes to get them."

He stopped. "What? Why?"

"How should I know?"

_Is it that Streetpass thing? How exactly does that work? Gah! I can't remember! Why did that cat have to be so hard to listen to? What did he say?_

"Well, if it doesn't work out, Mayor Sadie has room. Who knows? Maybe Lucy will come and ask you to move!"

_For the sake of my nerves, I hope I _never _have to live in a town with someone as cheery as you._

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

He stepped back inside the train. _Where did I enter from? _He tried to find the spot where the gateway had been. _I think it was. . .here? _He ran his hoof across the back wall of the train, trying to find a weak point. Nothing.

"What are you doing?" Rover asked.

_Does he ever leave this train? _"Tryin' to find the gateway. If I used it to get here, maybe I can use it to find Lucy's town. A squirrel told me that Lucy comes by here sometimes, so she must live nearby."

"That won't work, man."

He looked at the cat as if he had just punched him. The cat continued.

"Those gateway things don't appear unless someone is using their wifi to connect to someone else. Well, that or the local area connec—nevermind. Technicalities. Point is, you can't do that. Whoever owns this town—"

"Some chick named Mayor Sadie."

"Okay. Mayor Sadie isn't connected with Lucy's DS. Best thing you can do is just wait. Settle down here for now. Enjoy this new world and be patient."

"But I hate being patient!" Roscoe shouted, which Rover had partly expected. "There's another one of those annoying, cheery animals here! It's too girly. I kid you not, there were blue paths with flowers on them running through the town. Blue. With _flowers_. I can't live here! I have to live with Lucy!"

Rover waited a few seconds, giving the horse time to calm down before he responded. "Well, you can always take your chance with the void if living here is too much. Oh, don't mind the name. It's not so bad. You'll just wander around looking for another town. Villagers do it all the time, so, I mean, it's not a big deal. Still. You'd have a better chance of reuniting with your friend if you stay here. Even if she only visits sometimes, that's still better than wandering around blindly."

Roscoe opened his mouth to counter, but closed it when he realized that, unfortunately, the cat was right. "So. . .where do I go from here?"

"Go see Tom Nook over on Mainstreet. He'll set you up with a house. After that, just wait. Make friends; ask the Mayor to do favors for you; pass the time however you see fit."

Roscoe huffed. "Thanks. Maybe I won't pull my hair out from living around these idiots."

"I'm sure they're not _all_ idiots."

"And maybe I'm a unicorn." He walked to the train's exit once more, Rover's instructions to just take it easy not sitting well with his impatient feet.

"And, hey" Rover called, "don't be in such a rush. You may find that you like Mayor Sadie just fine."

* * *

**Apologies to anyone who actually named their town Sparkletown. **

**Another unnecessary author's note. There's your second freebie.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Kinda silly to answer this question so late, but I read about the wifi thing on the Animal Crossing wiki. Just Google that. You should find it.**

* * *

Roscoe stepped out of his newly constructed home the next morning and saw that his surroundings had mysteriously metamorphosed from their spring colors to the yellowly-brown of autumn. He rubbed his eyes, trying to be sure that he was, in fact, awake. The grass was no longer soft and green as he walked, but rather dying and brittle. A voiced rang out from no discernible direction, sweet and pleasant.

_Attention, residents! Today is the Harvest Festival!_

Roscoe blinked in confusion. _The what? _He walked through the town in a daze, eventually finding himself at the plaza. There, standing behind a table draped with a white dinner cloth, stood a droopy-eyed turkey in a chef's outfit. The turkey saw him and held up his hand half-way in greeting. The turkey stood there, unmoving, and stared out in front of him. _What's he doing? _"What're you doin'?" Roscoe said. The turkey turned his head slowly and spoke.

"Waiting."

"Huh?"

"Waiting for the mayor." He turned his head back and continued staring.

"The mayor?" _What would Tortimer want with. . .wait. . .no. That Sadie person is the mayor here. _He shook his head. _Gotta get used to that. _"Why?"

The turkey looked confused. "First time I've heard that. No one ever asks 'why'. Well, so I can say my ingredients have gone missing. Then, I'll ask her to find them for me. Then I give her furniture."

"That makes no sense."

"It doesn't have to." The turkey smiled lazily. "It's fun."

The sound of footsteps came into earshot. A human girl with black hair and green, wide eyes ran up to the turkey. Just as he said, he launched into an explanation of how he didn't have the necessary ingredients to make the Harvest Festival feast and that he needed her help. She then ran off to presumably find said ingredients. Once she was far away, the turkey resumed his conversation with Roscoe.

"I don't get the appeal of getting furniture, but it's a nice job. I get to cook, so it's good enough for me. I just love this holiday. Don't you?"

"I've never celebrated it before." _I've never even _heard _of it before._

The turkey looked baffled. "What? That makes no sense." He scratched his head. "Did your previous mayor just. . .not celebrate it? But that wouldn't explain why you've never heard—"

"It's complicated." He considered walking away. He had no reason to continue the conversation. _And then what? Go back to bed? _He realized that he hadn't even thought about what he would do to pass the time. Moping wouldn't bring Lucy to visit any quicker, and he hated the idea of just lying around bored. He sighed. _He asks her a favor. She does it. She gets rewarded. It's a game. Yeah. Just like Brewster said. This is all just one big game. _"What is my role?"

"Huh?"

"My role in this whole thing. What'm I supposed to do?"

The turkey looked baffled. "Well, just go and wait inside your house. Say you're cooking and that you don't have the ingredient that you need. Here." The turkey gave him a small box filled with ingredients: vinegar, flour, lemons, and all sorts of other things. "Give one of these to her each time she brings you the right ingredient."

"How do I know which one she needs?"

"You don't."

Roscoe raised an eyebrow. _Well, this oughtta be interesting._

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Three boxes of ingredients later and Mayor Sadie was still bothering him. _Seriously? Just tell me what you want! It ain't that hard. _She handed him a seas bass and he tried to guess what she wanted. He settled on handing her a lemon. Her face just stayed the same. A happy, perpetual smile. The same expression she had given him for the past hour. Then, after about a two second delay, her smile was replaced with an angry frown. She stomped her foot and her face became red. this emotion lasted for all of one second, then went back to the way it was before. Needless to say, Roscoe was taken aback by this. _Why are you mad at _me_? I don't know what you want! Give me a break here! _"Oh, just tell me what you want, will you?" He tried to move his mouth to speak, but his voice wouldn't come out and his lips wouldn't part. He felt something shift inside him. It was unsettling. The girl left, sure to come back. Roscoe rolled his eyes, knowing full well who he would be going to see.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"Back again? Really?" Though his tone was surprised, Rover's face was as cheery as ever. Roscoe explained what had happened, hoping that the cat could tell him what was going on. "Oh, that's just the game protecting the experience."

"Say what?" He took a seat, guessing that he might be here for awhile.

"Well, see, you and I can talk to each other like this just fine. We can say whatever we want, go where we want, yada yada. The game doesn't care because it's not looking at us. It's looking at her." Seeing that this didn't clear anything up for his equine friend, he continued. "Most of the game's energy is focused on keeping her happy and immersed. Once you're in its line of vision, so to speak, you have to act a certain way. Those born in this world have their behaviors programmed into them, so it's no big deal. You, too, were programmed to behave a certain way; however," He nodded his head in the direction of the back of the train where the gateway had been, "you disobeyed your programming, so your responses aren't automatic. You think outside the code box, and the game doesn't know how to handle that. It's not supposed to have to. That feeling you said you had was the game's code trying to cope with that sudden difference." He stopped talking, hoping he hadn't confused the poor horse even further.

"So, what should I do?" Roscoe felt his head spinning. _Code. Game. It makes no sense if I think about it. Did it ever make sense? _

"I guess your best bet is to find someone with your personality type and get to be friends with them. Copy them the best you can. Eavesdrop on their conversations with the mayor. Learn how they speak. You should be fine, then. Above all, don't let the mayor catch on that you're. . ." He trailed off. "That you know that you're in a game. From here on out, she's just another character in your life, okay? Same with Lucy, and _especially _the other animals. No one can know. If a villager isn't emotionally fit enough—or oblivious and hard-headed enough, as is the case with you—it could seriously mess them up."

"O-kay." _He's weird. _He didn't really see what the big deal was, but he decided to go along with it. Sadly, going along with it meant that he had to do the unthinkable—make friends with someone like himself.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

He tried his best to stay away from the mayor as he looked for someone with his personality. Rover had told him that he was classified as "cranky", so he figured it wouldn't be too hard. He had figured wrong. _Just listen for someone with a deep voice. _Rover had said. So far, all Roscoe had encountered were high-pitched squirrel and hamster girls and two boys, one of which had talked about nothing but food and the other of which had seemed to be coming onto him. He knocked on the last door of the last house of the last villager, hoping that his search wouldn't be for nothing.

Who he found inside was not who he had been expecting. A short, chubby female penguin with large, pupil-less eyes was standing there in a chef's costume, no doubt waiting for the mayor like everyone else. _Aurora. _He remembered her living in his old town. They had gotten along well for the most part, but she had moved away shortly after he had said something hurtful. What it was and why she had moved were lost to his memory. _Did you move because of me? _

"Hi there! I've never seen you before. What's your name?" Aurora said happily. Her voice held no trace of contempt. _Did you leap as well? Don't you remember me? _

"Roscoe."

"Nice to meet you, Roscoe. I'm sure we'll be great friends." She put her flippers behind her back. "That is, if you'd want to be friends with me. I mean, I don't want to be a bother or anything."

_Is that what I said? Did I say she was a bother? I can't remember. _"Are you still mad at me?" He knew that bringing up the past could be painful, but he had to know.

"What do you mean? I've never seen you before in my life." She looked puzzled. Her voice held no sarcasm. She honestly didn't remember him.

"Come on! It's me, Rosscoe! Remember? We used to talk sometimes. Lucy went on and on about how adorable she thought you were in her letters. It kind of made me sick." Realizing he may have messed up, he tried to fix his statement. "Not that you aren't! I'm not saying that! I'm just asking if you remember."

"Nope. Sorry. I've never lived with a Lucy. Come to think of it, I can't really remember who I lived with before S-Bot. Hmm. . ." She thought hard. Strangely, she began to whistle.

"Why are you doing that?" He asked.

"It helps me remember. No matter how blurred my memory is, if I can just remember the tune of my old town, I can remember their faces." She continued whistling. "Mayor Trinity. Good times." She began to talk about her old town, but Roscoe wasn't listening. _She doesn't remember. _He supposed that could be a good thing. This time, he wouldn't mess things up.

"Hey, Aurora?"

"Yes?"

"Do you, by chance, happen to remember any cranky old grandpas from your old town?"

"Sort of. Why do you ask?"

_It could seriously mess them up. _He gritted his teeth. "Because I just _love _making friends."

* * *

**Rover is best at exposition. **

**I've really neglected this fic, haven't, I? Yep. Meep. You may be asking yourself, "Ugh. Is she really gonna keep making Rover explain things?"**

**Yeah. Most likely. Ain't I just the bestest fanfic writer _ever_?**


	6. Chapter 6

***gets stuck without computer internet***

***writes three chapters***

***realizes third chapter sucks***

***deletes entire third chapter***

**and this, dear readers, is why I should stay away from sci fi. Even the soft stuff.**

* * *

"Okay, let's try this again." Aurora took a deep breath and stuck out her chest, then let out a belly laugh. "Gah hah hah!" She looked up at Roscoe. "Now you try."

"But that's just dumb! Why would I laugh like that?"

"The better question is" Aurora said, turning her head to the side and blinking at him, "why _don't _you? All the old, scary villagers I've met—oh, no offense—have laughed the same way."

"Well, I don't. I think it's stupid." Roscoe said. He crossed his arms and scowled. The penguin took a few steps back, eyes wide, and he realized that he was probably scaring her. "Sorry. Habit."

"It's fine. But you know, if you're gonna call Curt's behavior stupid, why did you ask me to teach you how to act like him?"

"Reasons."

"That's kind of a weak answer." She tried to fold her flippers and give Roscoe the same look he had given her, but it was a futile attempt. Such a thing just wasn't in her nature.

"Well, it's the only one you're getting. Just go with it, okay? I need to know. It's important."

"Fine. Fine. But can it wait? I want to go outside and enjoy the festivities before the day is over." Her voice was light, her eyes full of excitement. She waddled past Roscoe and opened the door to her closet. "You should join me. Here." She tossed him a red, feathery headpiece. She put a yellow one atop her head and opened the door to her home. "You've been learning for hours. We could both use a breather." She left the door open for him and, reluctantly, he followed her. The scenery had once again changed overnight. The grass was alive again and bright, colorful confetti rained down from the sky. _Who the heck put confetti in the sky? And who decided it was a good idea? _All around him, animals were bopping to some unheard beat and whistling the same tune he had heard every hour when the clock bells rang. _Town tune. _He tried to whistle it himself. Though he was able to do so, and though he had been hearing it for the past few days, it still sounded strange to him. He looked around, making sure the mayor was nowhere in sight, and whistled Sparkletown's old tune. As he did, memories of his time there blew over him, a gentle breeze of nostalgia.

"Pretty." Aurora's voice brought him back from his memories. "Your old mayor must've been good at making music."

_I made it up myself. _He wanted to say. It had been on one of Sparkletown's few holidays—La Di Day. He had been so honored that Lucy had picked his song to replace the old one. _You're hired! _She had said. She had said it to everyone, but she had only meant it when she said it to him. He smiled, remembering the feeling of pride.

"Hey, you should do that more often." Aurora grinned so wide that her eyes closed.

"Do what?"

"Smile! You look way less scary that way."

_Do the other crankies smile in this world? _He rolled his eyes. _Well, they laugh like idiots, apparently. I'm sure they smile. I shouldn't worry so much. _He heard the sound of a net hitting the ground and glanced in the sound's direction. The mayor pulled a purple feather out of the net and started running over to them. _But I can worry a little. _He danced and whistled, mimicking his penguin friend the best he could. _This is torture. _He smiled his biggest smile, the same cheery, closed-eyed smile Aurora had given him, trying to make it convincing. He opened one eye just enough to see what was going on. The mayor was playing a game of charades with Aurora. She wagered her purple feather against a green feather Roscoe hadn't noticed Aurora had. _So, this is how _this _game is played. _He wondered if it was like the one he had experienced yesterday and, briefly, if another fat bird waited at the plaza to explain the rules. _What _is _it about collecting furniture that makes her so happy? _He didn't have long to think about it. The mayor wanted to talk to him. _Alright. Just like we practiced. I can do this. _

"Hey, Sadie! Today's the annual celebration of Festivale! Let's jump into the spirit and get into the groove!" _I think I'm gonna vomit. _Thankfully, she didn't stick around to find out that he didn't have any feathers. He didn't know whether or not other animals didn't have feathers from time to time, but it wasn't something he wanted to risk. He breathed a sigh of relief once she was gone.

"I don't know why you're so stressed out" Aurora said, "but you need to relax."

"I'd relax more if I had some feathers."

She looked a him questioningly, but reached into the mysterious, unseen pocket on her side and handed him a small pile of them. "Just have some fun, would you? We can have a picnic if you like. I'll pack you some animal crackers."

For a moment, he forgot the need to put on a charade for the feather-searching mayor that could come back at any given second. "You've gotta be kidding me! I'm not some child who needs their lunched packed for them!"

"Aw, come on. I wasn't saying that."

"Well, it sounded like it!" Despite his tone, Roscoe felt a bit lighter than he had before. Aurora was a nice little penguin. She put up with his attitude and had spent hours teaching him how to behave like any other cranky in this world. And, he had to admit, animal crackers _did _sound good. It was nice having a friend. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't bothered to really become friends with anyone. Not even the mayor. Perhaps it was time to change that.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"What should Pave touch next? Woo! Pave will touch red feathers!"

By the looks of it, Pave had been asking for feathers for quite some time. All around the plaza, the ground was littered with feathers and various furniture items; most of them duplicates. The mayor swung her axe at the bird and it bumped off of him, causing him no harm. She took on the same angry expression she had given to Roscoe before running off to find more feathers. He walked up to the bird, who didn't stop dancing for a second. "She seems annoyed at you."

"Little Ms. No Dance brought it on herself! She did not feel the groove! She did not dance like Pave!"

"Still. Seems like she's been at this stupid game for awhile. Waddaya want from her?"

"Pave wants feathers, Ms. No Dance gives Pave feathers, Pave gives furniture. Pave dance!"

Roscoe looked at the pieces. It was a simple series. Blue and white with small speckles. _Ugly. _There was a bookshelf, a closet, a bed, a lamp, and—

_No table. That's what she's looking for. _As if on cue, Mayor Sadie returned. She forked over a rainbow feather, which caused the gaudy bird to give the same creepy shocked expression that Rover gave.

"Pave is. . .**G**L**O**R**I**O**U**S!" He danced harder than he had been dancing, putting in his full energy. _He must really like those rainbowy ones. _Once the bird was done with his display, he gave the mayor a carpet. Roscoe glanced behind him. _Ten carpets?! _Looking back in front of him, he saw that the mayor shared his sentiments. She frowned at the bird over and over. He didn't notice and just continued dancing. _What a jerk. _He reminded Roscoe of a snooty rabbit back in his old town. Lucy had sent him letters complaining about her from time to time. For a split second, he imagined the bird giving her as much of a headache as he was giving this girl. Once she was gone, he decided that he had found the perfect way to be her friend.

"'Ay! You like them feathers she keeps givin' ya, so why don't you give her what she wants?"

"Pave has no idea what Mr. Scary Horse is talking about." Pave said as he gyrated his rather large hips.

"The table! Give her a stinkin' table, ya moron!" Roscoe shouted.

"Pave will give what Pave wants to give. Pave is the best dancer. Pave is better than Ms. No Dance. Pave is better than everyone!"

_He's insufferable!_

If Roscoe's patience was a short fuse with mostly everyone he met, then with this bird, it was a short, lit fuse attached to a bomb. _Self-centered, inconsiderate jerk! _His eyes went wide when he realized the obvious. _You're exactly how I was. _He lowered his head. _Exactly how I'm supposed to be. _He thought about all the characteristics Aurora had told him about. _He was selfish sometimes, but also nice to me. We fought sometimes, but, somehow, we always made up. Curt was a good friend. Prickly, but good. _Who was Roscoe to be angry at this bird? Was it really fair that he wanted to punch him in the face?

No. It wasn't.

But it didn't stop him.

"Give the nice mayor a nice, ugly table, ya weirdo bird!" His hoof made contact with the bird's jaw. A clean, powerful punch. For a few seconds, he wished that he had gotten the jock personality so that it would have had more _oomph_. By the looks of the bird's terrified expression, it had been enough regardless.

"Ow! Ow! Mr. Scary Horse is Mr. _Mean _Horse! Who is still scary!"

"Yer darn right I am. Now get a table ready for her." Roscoe crossed his arms and sneered at the bird, suddenly happy that his face scared small children.

And, apparently, childish peacocks.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

The night sky was beautiful. Roscoe looked up at it now and then as he headed home, looking for any constellations that might be there. Most of the animals had gone to bed, and soon he would be following suite. Sadie had won most of their games of charades, so his pockets were now empty of feathers. She and he had played for hours, despite her now having what he presumed was the entire set of that hideous furniture. _Guess this game is more than furniture after all. _As he unlocked his door, he saw that his mailbox was flashing. He looked inside to find a single letter addressed to him by Sadie. He went inside, sat on his bed, and read it to himself.

_Dear Roscoe,_

_I just now decided to go ahead and work on my letter writing badge. Ha! You don't even know what that is. Anyway, might as well send a letter to my newest resident. You're cool._

_Your new buddy Sadie_

He smiled. It wasn't much, but she did seem to want him here. It was nice to know. This town wasn't so bad, despite the inconsistent scenery. Mayor Sadie seemed like the kind of person he could become friends with. He put the letter under his pillow and turned off the lights. _I could get used to a place like this. _The hazy feeling of sleep began to cloud his mind, making his thoughts turn blurry. _Why did I want to leave? _He yawned. _Oh, right. Lucy. I'm waiting for Lucy. _He wished he could send her a letter. _A letter even nicer than Sadie's._

_Then again, that's hard to beat._

_Sadie really is a nice person._


	7. Chapter 7

**Aurora is actually living in my town now. She showed up in my campsite and I just had to have her. I wasn't even thinking about this fic at the time. Neat. **

* * *

The next morning, the wind was full of cherry blossom petals. There were more trees than usual, which gave the town a more alive sort of look. The world was dyed pink once more and the entire scene was breathtaking. The sun was shining warmly overhead and the breeze was perfect. Such weather was enough to immediately put Roscoe in a good mood.

"Good morning!" Aurora called as she waddled over to him. He raised a hoof in greeting and the two walked together, drinking in the colors of Spring. _So unpredictable._ He mused. _But so pleasant. _There was a bench next to a fountain to their left overlooking a large patch of pink flowers. "Wanna sit for a bit?" Aurora suggested. Roscoe agreed and the two sat on the bench, admiring the many, many pink flowers.

"This place is so nice." Roscoe said.

"The mayor puts a lot of effort into it." Aurora said, shifting back and forth in a bouncy, happy way.

He shook his head in amazement. "A human mayor. Who would've thought such a crazy thing could happen?"

"I know, right?" Aurora said, nodding her head. "I guess Tortimer just got tired of working all the time. I was shocked at first, you know? But it's been nice having Sadie as our new mayor. Change is good." She swept her flipper through the air. "We didn't have all this before. Mayor Tortimer was always so busy. He never got out and planted flowers or delivered packages or funded new projects all by himself."

_She's really done a good job. _"I'd like to thank her. What does she like?"

Aurora placed a flipper to her chin and thought. "Well, her house is full of pictures of us villagers. I've been tempted to give her mine. She loves those things."

_So did Lucy. _He remembered giving her his picture. She had been ecstatic, thanking him over and over again in her letter the next day. He wondered if Sadie would be that happy. "Do you have a camera?"

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"Quit scowling, would you? Your face is gonna break my camera."

"I hate smiling for pictures. How's this?" He crossed his arms and smirked.

"This is the tenth try so far. I guess that will have to do." She snapped the photo and hooked the small camera up to her computer.

"All this new technology is crazy." He muttered.

"I got them both from Sadie." She said, surprising Roscoe. _Guess I should be quieter. Nah. _"I like to use the presents she gives me."

"She gives you presents?"

"She gives everyone presents."

_How come I haven't gotten a present yet? _He felt a bit indignant that he was, apparently, the only one not getting presents from the mayor. _I'll show ya! I'll be so stinkin' nice that you'll feel _awful. _Then we'll see how many presents I get! _The indignation began to turn to irritation.

"Aaand, done! Printed and ready to frame." Aurora said, handing him the picture.

"You wouldn't happen to have a frame, would you?"

"Yep! And markers to write your birthday and favorite quote, too." She said. She reached into her closet and pulled out both items, handing them to Roscoe.

"Thanks." He scribbled his birthday and star sign onto the back. _I've got my eye on you, bucko! _He smiled to himself, ready to write those words all over the back of the frame. He imagined that they would scare the mayor out of her pants. A horse with angry, red eyes watching her every move wasn't exactly a thought she would want to think about before going to bed. Maybe they would even give her nightmares. _That's what you get for not giving me any presents. _Before he could start, however, a feeling of guilt decided to punch him in the gut. _Then again. . .she's not _obligated _to give me presents. She's not even obligated to be nice to me. _He thought back to her letter. _But she's been nice to me anyway. _He sighed. Sometimes, he really hated that spiteful side of himself. It had hardly ever done him any favors and, more often than not, seemed to drive people away. He wondered if the other crankies had grown past that side of themselves. From what Aurora had told him, they weren't so prickly anymore. _Guess they had the maturity to become nicer people. _He liked nice people. _What right do I have to be mean if I expect others to be nice to me? _It was then that he honestly wished that he was more like the other crankies of this world, and not just to keep some disaster away, either.

He decided to think up a new quote. _Smiles are the sprinkles on the cupcake of life. _He shook his head and dry heaved. _I want to be nicer. Not give her diabetes. _He tried to think of something better. _You're not done 'til your muscles are screaming in agony! _It had a slight bite to it, but it just didn't fit his personality. He decided to just go with something that would fit who he was, albeit not something that would be directed at Sadie herself. _Trouble rides a fast horse. _It was perfect. He struck a proud pose, happy with himself for thinking of it. He scrawled it in small letters onto the back of the picture frame. It wasn't exactly sweet or pleasant, but it wasn't so harsh, either. _Maybe that's who I want to be, _he thought. _Maybe it's okay to be nicer. . .just a little bit, anyway. _The idea of laughing every other sentence was still too annoying to him for him to try it (more than what was necessary to throw off suspicion), but being generally more pleasant didn't sound so bad anymore.

"Thanks for the stuff, Aurora." He said, standing to leave.

"No problem! You can borrow my stuff any time." She said, whistling happily. He found the sight adorable, something that he didn't like to admit to himself readily, wanting to maintain his image even to himself. Maybe letting that image slip a little bit, if only to himself, would be a pleasant change of pace. _I should thank her. _He closed the door and decided to buy her a present. He walked to Mainstreet slowly, taking in the world around him, knowing full-well that it would more than likely look completely different when he woke up the next day. He walked to the Able Sister's, then stopped. He wasn't ready for a complete image change just yet. He peaked inside to make sure that no one else was there, then walked quickly to the back of the store and grabbed the first shirt he saw, ready to get out as soon as possible. _Can't be seen buying clothes. _Once he had purchased the shirt, he walked back over the train tracks and looked for Mayor Sadie. _She can deliver this. Yeah. That'll give me an excuse to give her my picture. And a means of giving a gift without actually being seen giving a gift._ He found her at the beach, fishing away. She pulled up, and the fish that she had caught struggled to get away. She grabbed the sea bass as it came flying at her head. _How the heck do they _do _that? _She placed a hand to her chin and let the fish go. _Lucy always did that with that type of fish, too. I wonder why. _

He ran up to her, eager to talk. He gave her the task of delivering his present and she happily obliged. She ran up the slope and out of his line of vision. Once she was gone, he sat on the sand and watched as the waves came to the shore and the buoys bobbed up and down with the tide. _I wonder what's on the other side of those things. _Maybe Lucy's town was somewhere on the other side. Maybe she was watching the sea as well. _Ridiculous. Get your head out of the clouds, man. _He looked around. The mayor hadn't returned, so there was no need to act a certain way. _Never mind_._ I can stay in stupid day-dreamland for a little bit, gah ha ha! _He clamped a hand over his mouth, though he hadn't said anything out loud. He rolled his eyes and let out a groan. _Nooo. I don't want to start doing that just yet! _ He sat up. _Then again. . .what's the hold up? _He stood. Maybe he was becoming ready to let his old self-his old town-go. _Letting Sparkletown go doesn't mean I have to let _her _go. _He picked up a shell and tossed it into the ocean, watching it sink into the abyss. _I don't need to hold on to the old me, either._

He heard feet kicking up sand and turned to see that Sadie had come back from making his delivery. _I wonder if she liked the shirt. _"So, did Aurora say anything?" He asked. Sadie spoke in that strange way that all humans spoke, mouth unmoving, but words coming out, as if they were being sent to his brain directly. For all he knew, that's how the game worked. "Here. Take this as a reward." He took out his picture and handed it to her. A feeling went through him, as if their friendship had become stronger in a matter of seconds. _Weird. _She gave him a shocked expression. _What's so shocking about getting my picture? _His eyes went wide. _Oh. Must be the pose. Shoot! I ruined it, didn't I? _But then, she put her hands together and whistled with glee, then started clapping. He couldn't help but smile, then join in when she continued to clap. Then she started doing the goofiest dance he had ever seen. His mood was just good enough for him to join in. she spun in a circle, then ran back up the slope. _She's kind of weird. _He shook his head. _But then again, so am I._

* * *

_Lucy: he gave you his picture already? 3:00 PM_

_Sadie: ye! cool huh 3:01 PM_

_Lucy: Yeah! :D man. Sometimes I miss that horse :( 3:01 PM_

_Sadie: u can always come over and visit if u like 3:01 PM_

_Lucy: I'm kind of busy right now. The boss has me doing paperwork at home. Can you believe that? 3:02 PM_

_Sadie: that sucks x( tomorrow then? 3:02 PM_

_Lucy: Sounds good! I haven't been able to play for the past few days. Can you TT to Bunny Day? I never got the set. 3:02 PM_

_Sadie: sure thing :) I'll let u get back to ur work ttyl 3:02 PM_

_Lucy: Ttyl. 3:03 PM_


	8. Chapter 8

Eggs. Eggs everywhere. That was the first thing Roscoe noticed when he stepped out of his home that morning. Every space of ground that didn't have a flower or clover on it was decorated with a small, colorful eggs. _Plaza. _He walked over the eggs, trying not to crush them (soon finding out that this wasn't an issue) and arrived at the plaza. A yellow bunny—or, rather, what looked like someone inside a bunny suit—was panting tiredly.

"'Ey."

The suit-bunny looked up, startled. "Hey." He said in a surprisingly unenthusiastic voice.

"What's with all the eggs?" Roscoe asked.

"You been sleeping under a rock your whole life or something?"

"I don't need your attitude, punk. How's about I rip that bunny head off of that cheap suit."

"Hey, hey! No need for that. Geez." The bunny picked up one of the eggs and showed it to Roscoe. "These are for Bunny Day. I get to dance around in a hot, muggy suit all day handing out furniture and pictures of myself. I kid you not, I've given out, like, twenty selfies so far. No one should even _take _twenty selfies! Ever!" The bunny sounded a bit hysterical. "I tried to bend the rules this year and give that kid the whole set in order, but then" He laughed a little, reminding Roscoe of a crazed hyena, "_then _I see she brought her _friend _over. I gotta keep track of two sets if I wanna go home! Ahaha! I've been dancing for so long I think I'm getting heat stroke. I forgot what I gave them and didn't give them!" The bunny began to dance around in a disorderly manner, missing steps and mumbling to himself. "Let's look for eggs. Let's look for eggs. Let's look for. . ."

_Poor sucker. _Roscoe shook his head, but couldn't deny that the snarky bunny's suffering was amusing. _I'm terrible. _His ears pricked up. Someone was coming. _Oh, goody! Sadie can quietly mock the bunny with me. _But the person he saw wasn't the mayor. He felt his mind go blank and his throat dry out. A girl, the mayor's friend, walked up to the bunny and handed him something, but Roscoe's mind was too blurry for him to register what it was. All he could focus on was the girl in front of him. Blue eyes, rosy cheeks, sandy blond hair. _She's even wearing her favorite design._ A simple T-shirt with a smiling heart on it. Roscoe had thought it was a hideous thing when he had first seen it in the Able Sister's custom clothing section, but seeing it now was like seeing the rarest, most fashionable piece of clothing in the world. She began to walk over to him. _Think. Stay on script. Stay on script._

"Say, who are you?" _I missed you. I missed you so much. _Aurora had told him that the other crankies liked to smell the new visitors to see where they had come from. Such a thing seemed a bit too awkward for Roscoe, but he didn't have to smell her to know who she was. He faked it for the sake of appearance. "Lucy from Sparkletown." He let his mouth run on autopilot. That was all the fake lines were good for, anyway. _How have you been? Are you giving your citizens a hard time like a good girl? Are you happy? I've missed you. I've missed you. Can I come live in your town now? _He wanted to reach out and hug her so hard that she wouldn't be able to move. He wanted to tell her who he was and that there was no need to go back to her old town because he was here now, here with her.

She began to run after a balloon. _No! Don't go just yet! You little jerk! Get back here! _Rover's warning echoed in his head, but the sight of his friend was beginning to override that warning. He needed to be with her. As close as he had gotten to Sadie, seeing Lucy again was sending that new connection flailing over a cliff. He opened his mouth.

"Lucy!" The words didn't come out. He felt the sensation return, but he ignored it. "Lucy!" Stronger this time. Still no words. He felt his knees starting to buckle._ I don't care. Ya think ya can beat me, game?! Tryin' to stop me? Well, how do ya like _this_? _"Lucy! Lucy!" It didn't like it. It didn't like it at all. The sensation knocked him to his feet as he continued to yell, code writing and rewriting itself like a malevolent immune system, shifting his entire being around as it pleased. It was too much. He was outrunning it. It couldn't rewrite him fast enough to override the data he was feeding it. The game did the only thing it could think to do: it shut off the connection.

Time froze for all of a few moments, then existence blinked. Roscoe was back at his house, his head pounding with a massive headache. The eggs were gone. He walked dizzily in no particular direction, trying to process what had just happened. He found himself near the train station. A pair of red, annoyed eyes stared at him. "I told you not to do that. I told you the game would try to stop you, but did you listen? Nooo. I _knew _you'd try to pull something like this. I knew it. I saw her on the train and I said to myself, 'he's totally gonna screw something up. Yep.' And you did. Congratulations." Rover tried to grab him by the shoulder, but his paw fazed through it. "Well, that's just lovely."

"What? What is? What was that?" Roscoe wasn't used to the panic in his own voice. It was unsettling to him.

"You done goofed, that's what." Rover pointed to the cafe and Roscoe gave him the same questioning expression Aurora had given him some time ago. "Well, if I'm responsible for explaining everything yet again, I'd at least like a change of scenery."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"Coo. Thank you."

The cat paid the pigeon and sat close to the potted plant, insisting that he needed to be ready to get out of sight should the mayor decide to walk in. "I'm gonna be frank—you're going to fade away." Rover sipped his coffee, glancing over at the shocked horse with a bit of guilty amusement at his expression. "You've managed to un-stabilize your code. The system recognizes you as a foreign object now. A bug." Roscoe tried to speak, but his throat felt like a desert had been dumped down it. Rover continued. "Now, a normal glitch is fine. A building hop here, a misplaced PWP there. No big deal. The system can ignore those; however," he pointed at Roscoe's forehead, "Intelligence, sentience, is a glitch it doesn't know how to face. Not when the camera has to see it."

"What do you—"

"We aren't meant to think when the mayors are around. Aren't meant to do anything other than obey our coding and provide a fun, relaxing experience for our mayors and their friends. That's what it means to play the game." He swigged down the rest of his drink in one burning gulp. "But you cheated." Suddenly, he dove behind the plant. Lucy walked in, ordered a to-go cup, and left as quickly as she had come. Rover took his seat once more. "Guess they reestablished the connection." He muttered.

"I don't understand any of this." Roscoe said slowly. "You and Brewster—oh, not you, man. Long story—you talk about these things, but I don't think I understand it. Not really. Not to the extent that you do."

"You were never meant to even understand what you already do." He smiled. "Strange, isn't it?"

"Full on insane." He stared down at his untouched drink. "So. I'm going to die."

"Well, not exactly. I mean, maybe not." Roscoe looked at him, puzzled. "Truth is, even I don't know what happens when you fade. It's not exactly a common occurrence. I mean, you may not die, per se."

"Per se?"

"The data has to go _somewhere_, I just don't know where. Heck, for all I know, you'll be rewritten as snow and get made into a snowman every year. Maybe you'll end up somewhere really, really nice. Maybe your data really _won't _go anywhere and you'll just stop existing. I dunno what happens, but if you can, send me a postcard from wherever you end up, assuming you end up somewhere. I'd like to know." He got up and headed for the door. "Thanks for the coffee, Brewster." He closed the door, leaving Roscoe to wonder what the heck his future held for him. _Great. It was bad enough I'll fade, now I've got this to think about. Just freakin' wonderful. _He placed his head in his hooves and let out a long, heavy sigh. _So much for being with Lucy._

* * *

_Lucy: That was fun! :D 4:20 PM_

_Sadie: ikr? u get the set? 4:21 PM_

_Lucy: Yep! Thank you. Heh. I saw Roscoe in your town. Memories = U = 4:22 PM_

_Sadie: oh yeah! He ur dreamy? I can save him for u if u want :) 4:22 PM_

_Lucy: No, that's fine. I don't wanna hold you up. You know how long they take to cycle out. Remember Skye? =_= 4:22 PM_

_Sadie: ugh! Smh that was awful. I can wait tho I mean he's ur fav right? 4:23 PM_

_Lucy: He used to be, yeah, but it doesn't matter. I can just get him from someone else. They're all the same when you first get them. 4:23 PM_

_Sadie: yeah :( oh, want any of my stuff before I give it away? 4:23 PM_

_Lucy: No, you go ahead. I'll hold your money for you, though. 4:24 PM_

_Sadie: thanks! u free in like an hour? 4:24 PM_

_Lucy: Yep. Just tell me when to open my gates. 4:24 PM_

_Sadie: kk. ttyl 4:24 PM_

_Lucy: ttyl. 4:24 PM_


	9. Chapter 9

"Sure are a lot of visitors today." Aurora said as she walked with Roscoe through the littered town. "Mayor Sadie must be very popular."

"Mmhmm."

"What's wrong?"

"Huh?" Roscoe shook his head and looked down at the penguin beside him. "What?"

"You've been spacing out all morning. Want to talk about it?"

"I can't."

"What do you mean? You can tell me anything. I promise not to judge."

"No, I mean I really can't." He huffed. "I was told not to. The last time I didn't do what I was told, things went pretty badly. I won't make that mistake again." He saw her eyes fill with sympathy.

"I believe you. I won't pry, but if you can ever tell me, I'll listen." She smiled, and he returned her expression. _I wonder if I'll be able to miss you when I fade. I hope not. That would suck. _

"Can we go on that picnic you mentioned that one time?" he asked, wanting to change the subject, "I'll pack your lunch. I'll even throw in some cute little animal crackers."

"What's gotten into you?" She asked, smiling. "Since when are you so sweet?"

_Since I realized I don't have much time to be grumpy. _"Since I felt like it. You wanna fight about it?" He smiled a half-smirky smile.

"No. You'd let me win." She tried to smirk, but such a thing isn't easily accomplished with a beak. She settled for closing one eye more than the other in an attempt to simulate a raised eyebrow.

"Would not!" _Guilty as charged. _"Okay, fine. Maybe I would. But it's just because I'd feel sorry for you."

"Uh-huh. Sure." She tried to take on a fighting stance.

"Oh ho ho. You sure? Then bring it!" _Wait a second. . .wait, no! _Before he could realize the consequences quickly enough, the small penguin had barreled into him and then through him, hitting the tree behind them. "Oh, shoot! Are you alright?" he asked, worried that he might have caused her some sort of brain damage.

"I'm fine." She mumbled. "What on Earth was that?" She rubbed her head. "I just. . .what did I do? Are you a ghost or something?"

"Or something."

"Something you can't explain?"

"Something I'd rather not talk about." He reached to help her up, but then realized that it wouldn't do any good. She stood up and stared at him blankly. "What?"

"It's weird. For an instant, I had the strangest urge to collect fossils. All of the fossils. I don't even care about those."

"What? I love fossils! How can you _not _love fossils?" He asked, forgetting about his inevitable demise for a moment.

"I just don't. They remind me of death. It's gone now, anyway. It was only for about a second or so."

"Fair enough." _I don't like to think about it, either. Can you die? _He shuddered. _I hope not. Do me a favor and never die, Aurora. You're my favorite penguin. _He needed to clear his mind. He didn't want to think of death or dying or what might or might not lie beyond that. "Let's just get to that picnic already, please."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Roscoe had never known that he couldn't cook, but he was finding out now.

"How did you manage to burn a sandwich?" Aurora said through mouthfuls of charcoal-tasting bread.

"I wanted to make it fancy."

"If 'fancy' is another word for 'disgusting', then you succeeded."

_I thought those with your personality were supposed to be nicer. _"Gee, thanks. Next time, I'll let you make _all _the food. See how you like being criticized." He winked at her to let her know he was kidding. She stuck out her tongue and took another bite of the awful sandwich. _Then again, maybe that's a facade, too. Just how much of your personality is pretend? _He loved Lucy. He couldn't deny that. He had even grown fond of Sadie. Still, the idea of having to pretend for the rest of his life was a fate he didn't wish to bear. _You might not have to. You could be gone tomorrow. _He slapped the side of his head. That thought gave him no more comfort than the idea of living a lie. _I'm honestly not sure which one is worse._ He thought as he tried to stomach his failure. He grimaced. _I really don't wanna finish this._

"Attention residents," Roscoe looked up when he heard the announcement voice speaking, "please make your way to the train station and board the train. Hurry. Take nothing with you. There's no time. Go. Run. This is a state of emergency evacuation. Get out _now_."

"I wonder what all the fuss is about." Aurora said, putting down her sandwich. "Miss Isabelle is usually such a calm secretary. What's going on?"

Roscoe shook his head. "I have no idea." All around them, animals were running to the train, heeding Isabelle's warning. Roscoe had heard the sheer panic in her voice. Panic. Fear. A hint of anger. _What's going on? _

"Where are you going?" Aurora asked as Roscoe ran in the direction of Town Hall.

"I'm curious." He called over his shoulder. "You just head for the train. I'll be there soon." Aurora obeyed and waddled as fast as she could for the train station. The ground began to shake and Roscoe had to fight to keep from falling over. He looked up. The sky was ripping apart, exposing line upon line of some mysterious writing. The trees began to flicker and fade from existence. He ran faster. Once he reached Town Hall, he tried to open the door. His hooves phased through it, so he settled for walking through the wall. He saw the secretary at her desk, her eyes closed and her face damp.

"Excuse me." Roscoe said. Her eyes flew open. "But what the heck is happening out there?"

"Get to the train." She said, then shut her eyes again. "This world is ending."

"What?!" he said, bringing his face near hers in what he hoped was an intimidating, I-want-answers manner. "What do you mean?! I'm not leavin' 'til you explain."

"Fine." She took a deep breath and spoke as quickly as she could. "Mayor Sadie told me to reset the town. I can't go against that order. It is against my coding to deny that request. Get to the train or you will die with this town."

He blinked. _Sadie is doing this? But. . .but _why_? I thought we were friends. _"What about you?"

"Don't worry about that. Please, just get to safety. I have to finish my job." her face showed that she was in no way enthused about this. It was ripping her apart.

"H-hey, wait!" His brain scrambled to come up with something. "Teach me how to delete the town. I'll stay here and finish the job. You go get out of h—"

"There is no place for me out there." She interrupted. "For each town, there's an Isabelle. I can't leave. Where would I go?" She breathed a heavy sigh. "I was born with this town, I ran this town, and I will die with this town. Now, please, if you want to do anything for me, just get the heck out before you're killed. You don't have much time left. I can't bear the thought of a villager being lost. Please." He could hear her desperation. He obliged. "Thank you, though." She said, her voice wavering, "It means the world to me that you'd try to help me." He nodded and gave a grunt, then sprinted through the wall. The train station, thankfully, wasn't very far away. All around him, the world was collapsing. Most of it was gone, replaced by blackness and lines of that strange something Roscoe didn't understand. The trees were fragmented, the ground dissolving quickly. He raced to beat the destruction, phasing through whatever was left to stand between him and freedom. There wasn't much. The train began to move.

"Wait!" He yelled at the top of his voice, waving frantically. He saw Aurora through the window, shouting something at someone. The train's doors opened wide and Roscoe tried to put more energy into his running. _Run. Run. Don't think. Just run. _He was at the station now, the void quickly eating away at what little was left of the town. He leaped through the doors and they slammed shut behind him. The train took off at breakneck speed. Roscoe looked up, gazing in horror at what was happening outside the window. The last thing he saw was the void swallowing everything that once was, nonexistence showing its face in the form of the mysterious characters and letters. The letters, too, disappeared, leaving emptiness in their wake. The scene was replaced by the sight of the bricked walls of a tunnel speeding by as the train headed in some direction Roscoe had no interest in. _She deleted it. Mayor Sadie deleted it. _He looked around at the nine other villagers' faces, all horrified. Some were crying. Others were shaking in fear, trying to process what had just happened. _She didn't know we'd be spared. She didn't care. She didn't care what was gonna happen to us. _Roscoe brought his knees up to his chest and wrapped his hooves around them, staring at his own dark fur. He heard someone plop down next to him—Aurora. She hovered a flipper over his shoulder, knowing that it would be useless to try to give him comfort by physical contact. Still, he was grateful for her effort. _At least _you _care about me, Aurora._

For the first time since he had woken up and discovered it, Roscoe truly understood what it meant for his life to be nothing more than a game.


	10. Chapter 10

"Can I get everyone's attention, please?" Rover's voice bounced off the walls of the train. The train became silent, save for a few quiet sobs and sniffles. "I know what has just happened is a bit. . .traumatizing for you." At that, Agent S let out a wail. A few others followed her example. Rover was taken by surprise, but tried his best to collect himself. "P-please calm down. Listen, this is not the end, okay?" He spoke soothingly, trying to put the crowd of refugees at ease. "There are thousands of towns out there. Millions! You're bound to find one." the crying quieted down. Rover continued. "This train will make a stop at each town we pass. When it does, you can move there if you like, or you can wait for another one. It's up to you." He smiled a wide, unintentionally creepy smile. "It's your choice now."

For a few minutes, the train was completely quiet. Even the crying had stopped. Then, a small voice mumbled from somewhere in the crowd. "How could she just get rid of us?" This caused a wave of muttering to ripple through the small bunch, complaints ranging from their lost town to their homes to their feeling of betrayal by someone who was supposed to be their friend, eventually coagulating into one precise thought: _how could she?_

"If it makes you feel any better," Rover finally shouted over the rising volume, "it won't matter to you after awhile." Every head turned to look at him. "I can't explain it to you. It would be difficult for you to process. Just know that your memories _will _fade. You won't feel this pain forever. So," he clapped his paws together and folded them, "here's to your new futures. Embrace them. I truly wish you the best." The crowd began to speak amongst itself again, though the general atmosphere was much lighter than it had been just a few minutes prior. All seemed content with the idea of a new future and forgetting their betrayer. All but one, who dragged Rover to the back of the train as far away from the others as possible and plopped him and himself down onto the floor.

"Waddaya mean, 'Yer memories will fade'?" Roscoe hissed.

"Just what it sounds like." Rover pushed Roscoe's hoof off his shoulder, "The system is programmed for situations like this. Mayors delete their towns all the time, so a safety precaution had to be taken in order to keep a bunch of depressed animals from running around." Roscoe blinked at him. "The code from the new town will eventually overwrite the code from the old town. Soon enough, it will be nothing more than a vague memory that you think about every so often through the rose-colored lenses of nostalgia. And, should you decide to move again, _that _data will be rewritten as well, wiping out the first set of memories entirely."

Roscoe thought about this. He gasped quietly when he realized what that meant. "The original set of memories. . .does that apply to Lucy's and mine's old town?" Rover nodded. Roscoe felt numb, then shaky. "All of the times we shared, all of her letters, all gone?"

"Frankly, I'm surprised they lasted this long. The system should've already started to erase them."

Roscoe didn't admit it to Rover, but a few memories had become a bit more unclear. He couldn't remember most of his old neighbor's names and their faces were blurry, as if someone had taken a giant watercolor brush and smudged them. The memories that were clearest were the ones of him and Lucy, and even the more insignificant of those were trying to escape. "I love her." he said in a low voice. "She's the best friend I've ever had. I don't want to forget her so easily."

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice in the matter." Rover's voice was sympathetic, but firm. "You can't disobey your programming anymore than I can. You tried to break one of its rules before, and look what it got you."

"What if I want to, huh?" Roscoe had to keep himself from shouting angrily at the cat, "what if I want to disobey? I can try to keep on remembering her. I can try to keep those feelings I have alive."

"You'd just be lying to yourself." he said softly. He let the firmness slip from his voice. "You'd be miserable. Trying to hold on to feelings you just don't have. Trying to convince yourself that you feel them. I don't want you to live whatever time you have left like that." He sighed, knowing it must be hard for Roscoe to hear such things. "Just accept it. Stop fighting against the system. Stop defying your coding. It's not your choice to make, don't you get that?"

_No. I don't. That's stupid. You're wrong! _That's what Roscoe wanted to believe, what he wanted to say, but he knew that it was a lie. Rover was smart. Very smart. He knew things Roscoe felt he could never even hope to understand. He understood how the system worked, how all of it worked and functioned. Who was he to question his knowledge when he himself didn't even really know what code or data was? What any of it was? What was all the more painful for him was that it made _sense._ As much as he didn't want to admit it, it really _did_ make sense. He had been growing close to Sadie, thinking of her as a very good friend. If time had allowed it, would he have come to think of her as his best friend? He swallowed hard. _Yes. Most likely. _He let out a shaky sigh. _Yes. _The last time he had gone against Rover's wishes, he had wound up with a death sentence. If he were to do it again, if he were to continue defying his coding, what would happen? He feared he might quicken the process of his own demise, speeding it up until he was no more. He decided that it was time to stop being so stubborn. To listen to the cat who seemed to have honest, good intentions for him. Who knew what he was and how their small game of a world worked. _I wish I was smart like you. Maybe then I could figure out a way to cheat the system. . .or at least understand how it works. Why it works the way it does. _Finally, he spoke.

"I get it. You're right, too." He stood. He wasn't happy about it, but he knew being upset wouldn't change anything. It was time to look to the future, however much of it he got to enjoy. "Thanks for everything, man. I think I'll just. . .settle down in whatever town I end up in."

"You sure?" Rover asked, standing and stretching, "You can always move after awhile. It would make the memories of Sadie start to fade."

"I don't need them to." He wiped his face, only then did he notice that he had been crying. "I can handle 'em." _If I can handle losing Lucy, I can handle anything. _The thought gave him new-found hope, though it left a bittersweet taste in his mouth. He looked out the window, waiting for a new town to come into view.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"Come on. Just one wifi visit?"

"I told you, I'm busy with this bull crap my boss assigned me. I can't right now."

"But I just made a new town! Please? Pretty please?"

". . .maybe later, okay?"

"Okay. Tomorrow's Saturday. Can you play then? Please?"

"Maybe. Look, I really have to go. Talk to you tomorrow, 'kay?"

"Fine. Love you."

"Love you, too."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

The train was almost empty. Most of the villagers had found new places to call home. Roscoe hadn't liked any of them. They were too big. Too developed. Too perfect. They reminded him of Sadie's town. The fabulous blue unicorn stepped off the train and waved to Aurora and Roscoe, who were now the only two still without a home. Roscoe had to admit, he'd miss that guy. They hadn't talked more than once, but from what he could tell, the guy had enough class for an entire town. The train lurched forward once he was a few feet away. They waved to him until he was out of sight and the surroundings were once again that of the familiar brick tunnel. The car was filled with the sound of the train clicking along the tracks, and not much else.

"I guess this is goodbye, huh?" Aurora said, her flippers folded in her lap.

"Guess so." Roscoe said. He'd miss her. She had been so helpful to him. He hoped she would find happiness in whatever town she chose.

"Take care, alright?" She said, standing. She held out her flippers.

_Eh? Oh. _He put his hooves around her as much as he could without actually touching her, and she did the same. "You too, kid. Glad I got to know ya." _Again, sort of. _Instead of getting off the train, she curled up in one of the seats and fell asleep. _Guess she wanted to say goodbye in case I wasn't here when she woke up. _The thought made him feel good. It was nice to have met someone so kind. He felt that he had redeemed himself for whatever had caused him and his old Aurora to stop being friends, though he wished that he had been given more time to know this one. He sat across from her and waited for an opportunity to leave. It took about fifteen minutes for a small, underdeveloped town to show itself. There were only a few trees and no special roses. He could only see a few houses. From what he could tell, it was opposite Sadie's town in every conceivable way. _Perfect. _He stood. "This is my stop." The train halted and the doors opened. "So long." He whispered to the napping penguin, then stepped off the train and into his new home.


	11. Chapter 11

One month. One month had passed since Roscoe had moved to this small town of Phoenix, an unusually hot and muggy town. He could feel himself fading a bit more each day, but he had learned to cope with it. He never asked the mayor, a boy by the name of John, for any favors that would require him to hold anything, which pretty much limited him to just hide-and-seek, unless, of course, he felt like visiting his house. He didn't like John's house, for he had filled it with flowers and other such happy things that Roscoe found far too cheery for his taste. On the few occasions when he scheduled a visit, they usually met up at his house. One of the residents, a pink rhino that looked pretty darn delicious, had agreed to help him send John thank-you letters, as he couldn't hold the pen himself. The town was slowly growing and he, even being the old man that he was, had gone to the new club and—what was the term?- "twarked" or "tworked" or something along those lines, or at least tried to, as the only thing he had managed to succeed in doing was scare the other two villagers that had been there. The mayor sent him letters every day with presents attached and, though he had to get the rhino to help him get them, he really did enjoy receiving them. All in all, Roscoe was happy.

Until today, when the mayor opened his gates. He had grown accustomed to the other boy who came over to play occasionally, but this was a new person entirely. She looked just like the mayor in every regard, save for her gender and clothing. John had rejoiced when he saw her, whistling with glee over and over. _Must not get to see each other much. _Then, after only a few minutes, she had left. John had been sad about it, as if he hadn't expected her to go so quickly. _Must be one to cancel plans easily. _Roscoe had shrugged it off, though he had felt bad for his mayor and friend, but something felt horribly, hauntingly off. He couldn't quite explain it or wrap his mind around it, but there was a thought there, tugging at the back of his mind, just out of his reach. It had followed him around all throughout the day, begging for his attention. It could be something completely, utterly insignificant, but he felt it would drive him mad if he didn't find out what it was. _Her face. _He thought to himself as he sat on a stump. _What is it about her face that's trying to stick with me? _She was a visitor. A flaky visitor at that. There was nothing important about her, so far as he could tell. _Maybe I'm feeling bad for John. Yes, that must be it. _The mayor _had _seemed sad about her leaving. Maybe he could change that.

He walked to one of his neighbor's houses and yelled at the door. The door slowly opened and a yellow chicken welcomed him inside for some tea.

"Not now, Eggbert. I'm just wonderin' something." Roscoe said.

"Huh? Oh." The bird yawned. "What's that?"

"You wouldn't happen to know who that girl was, would you?" Eggbert was John's best friend. Roscoe had to admit that he was a bit jealous of that, but he hoped his ties would be of use now. If anyone knew about the girl, it was him.

"Who? Lucy?" he said sleepily.

Roscoe shivered, despite the soaring temperatures. "Is that her name?" Eggbert nodded. "What's so special about her? J-bot seemed pretty upset that she left. Well, you know, in that weird way humans get upset for a few seconds."

"Poor guy. That's his sister. He writes to me all the time about her." Something about that statement was causing the faintest sensation of de ja vu, but Roscoe ignored it. "He's been trying to get her to visit for a month. She tends to keep her distance from him. She bailed on him most of the times she agreed to come over, and now she just up and left right after getting here. He says she's busy. Something about 'college' and 'work'. I dunno what those are, but they sound painful."

"She sounds. . ." Roscoe had wanted to say "like a jerk", but something stopped him. He didn't really know why, but that statement just didn't seem accurate. Whoever she was, he could feel that she wasn't a jerk, at least not on purpose. "busy." he finally said, which felt correct. John was usually busy, too. He watered the flowers daily, did errands for him and his neighbors, and funded all the projects. He supposed all humans were busy creatures, which didn't really make sense to him. _Maybe she doesn't want to be busy. _He thought. _Maybe she pushes him away because she doesn't want him to get so close when she's too busy for him. Doesn't want him to need her. _As a man who tended to act coldly towards others at first, Roscoe could understand that sort of mentality. "Thanks, Eggbert."

"No problem. Want some cookies before you go?" Eggbert asked.

"No thanks. I need to go home and figure something out." _I wouldn't be able to hold them anyway. _He walked back to his house, wondering how he could get Lucy to come back to Phoenix.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Lucy felt horrible. It had been a week since she had last broken her promise to spend time with her brother. _Well, I _did _visit. . .for like three minutes. _She sighed into her textbook. Balancing her job and education wasn't an easy task and it didn't leave her much room for social interaction. She couldn't remember the last time she had enjoyed a full-night's sleep, which she was craving more than anything else right then. She let her eyes droop shut and her head rest on the pages of the book, wishing that the nap she would indulge herself in would last forever.

It was interrupted by the sound of dubstep not two seconds later. Her eyelids flew open and she groaned, reaching for her cellphone. _Have mercy. I've already talked to you today. _She accepted the call and tried to keep the irritation out of her voice. "Hey, John."

"Lucy, I know you're busy—"

"And tired."

"Yes, and tired, but hear me out." he took an excited breath. "My villagers keep asking about you."

She pinched the bridge of her nose. As much as she loved her brother, she couldn't deny the observation that he was too immersed in the world of fiction for his own good. He had insisted, more than once, that his villagers were alive, or that his favorite NPC had given him extra help, or that his Pokemon genuinely loved him, etcetera.

"They keep sending me letters asking to see you again. They _never _do that! It's a sign, Lucy. You should come back and stay longer. Come on. They miss you." There was a pause. "_I_ miss you. Look, I know you're busy. I respect that. But I'm sure you can make free time if you really want to."

She wanted to. She really did. "I can't."

"Yes, you can!" He sounded desperate. "You don't _need _to study for three hours. Your memory's good enough for just one. Two at the most. Can't you take one hour off from being an adult? Please? Just one?"

"John—"

"Please. I'll even time travel if you want. I'll pay off your house. Please?"

She sighed. "You can't even afford to pay off your _own _house." She rolled her eyes. "Fine. One hour. I'll tell Sadie I can't chat today. She'll understand."

"Thanks! I'll open my gate!" He hung up the phone and she couldn't help but smile. Common sense or not, she couldn't fault him for a lack of enthusiasm.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

_It worked. _Roscoe grinned widely, watching John and Lucy hit each other with their nets. He had gotten all of his neighbors to pester John about inviting Lucy over again, and he had finally convinced her. _Good job. I did that. I done good. _He folded his arms proudly and nodded to himself. As he watched them interact, he could feel that familiar sense returning. He had thought that getting Lucy to visit John would make it go away, but it hadn't. It had been bothering him all week, almost nonstop. _Why should I care so much? _He wondered as he wandered closer to the duo. He hid behind a tree, watching, trying to place a hoof on why this feeling refused to leave him. She spotted him and waved. He wanted to wave back, but he didn't. _She's just a visitor. Just his sister. I shouldn't care. _But he did. Something told him that he shouldn't. That he wasn't supposed to. That side of him was trying to fight against the other side, getting stronger the longer he stared at her. _System. _A vague memory passed by in his mind. He tried to focus on it, to wipe away the smudges on the glass memory. Yes. System. Something about a system. _The _system. Code. Data. He rubbed the sides of his head, trying to get the memory to surface. _It will be nothing more than a vague memory that you think about every so often_. . .

_Rover. _He remembered now. He and Rover had talked at length about how the system operated. About code. _The system should've already started to erase them. _He blinked. _What was it supposed to erase? _He tried to reach back further, but it was like reaching into a muddy lake. He couldn't see the picture clearly. The words were jumbled in his mind, words but not words. The memories of his last town were faded as well. Come to think of it, he couldn't remember much about his life before this town, other than his childhood memories. Maybe she was a part of those. _No. _He shook his head, frustrated with himself. _No. that's not it. What is it? _His data was fighting him harder than before. It didn't want him to remember. _Who are you to tell me what to do, huh? _He clenched his jaw. _If I wanna remember, I should be allowed to remember! _He kicked at a flower, his foot phasing through it. He wouldn't be beaten. He had no idea why he wanted to remember so badly, but he knew that, for some reason, he wanted to be near her, whether his coding approved of it or not. He would do just that.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"He didn't even give me a warning." John sighed into the phone.

"Yeah. Flora did that to me a few months back. Don't worry. I have space in my town. Want me to hold him 'til you cycle out sixteen villagers?" Lucy said as she made herself a sandwich.

"Nah. He was your dreamy first. I want you to keep him. Just make sure you talk to him every so often so he doesn't move away."

"I'll try to make the time." It had been a few days since one hour had turned into two and then turned into three. Lucy had forgotten how much fun goofing off could be. She had still aced her exam and turned in her work on time. She had still made her boss very happy and gotten her salary. She had even managed to sleep a little better. _Stress is no good for you. _Her friends and family always told her that, more so in recent years. She remembered when she had loved wasting time, spending hours and hours of her life just fishing and shaking trees and chatting with a fictional horse. Her grades had suffered for it. She didn't want to become a slacker. _Balance. _She thought. _Maybe I need to find a balance. _She could balance a checkbook, a schedule, and her job with college. Why not free time and work time? She smiled. _I've missed you, brother. _She finished her sandwich and climbed into bed, soaking in the pure bliss of her soft covers. She would find a way to make time for him, and for herself as well. She could do it. She _would _do it. As she drifted to sleep, another thought crossed her mind.

_I've missed you, Roscoe. Welcome home._


End file.
